“Just start.” An interview with creator Sarah Ann Masse

I am an actor, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. I started out doing ballet, theatre, musical theatre, singing in choirs and in bands. I trained professionally as an actor in NYC. Then, as I got older, I got more and more into improv and sketch, finally immersing myself in a world I grew up admiring (Carol Burnett was a huge influence). A few years ago my husband and I started pursuing sketch comedy in earnest. Since acting is such a tough business where you are always waiting around for someone to say “yes” to you, we thought it would be fun and smart to start writing our own material to show off our skills as performers and create a body of work. We now release a new comedy sketch every week or every other week as “We Are Thomasse”. Our videos have gotten tens of millions of views and we perform live all over the world, including in Los Angeles with out monthly show at Second City Hollywood.

It is interesting, while my focus has largely been on comedy the past few years, I never think of myself as just a comedian. And, from the acting side of things, I tackle a sketch comedy role the same way I tackle a Shakespearian tragedy… I believe in grounded, honest performances no matter what the medium. The comedy is funnier, and the drama more intense, if the character is really invested in the stakes of what is happening. Anyway, I digress… being “the funny woman” is liberating in some ways because I always say there is no vanity in comedy. I don’t worry about what I look like on camera or if I am pulling an ugly face: I do whatever serves the script, the story, the character, and the comedy most. I would do that no matter what the genre but with comedy I think women are “allowed” to be ugly and strange and loud and gross and bold in ways that they’re not in other areas. I put “allowed” in quotations because eff that ish, no one tells me what to do regardless of how I’m choosing to express myself. Comedy is so important because it can reach people in a way that more dramatic mediums can’t… laughter breaks down people’s walls and then they are more open to receiving a message. I’m never interested in creating things that don’t do one of two things… they either need to add positivity and joy to the world or they need to have an important message, oftentimes both at the same time. Comedy allows me to do that. I write about misogyny, victim blaming, fairytales, history, silly characters, relationships… but everything I write comes through my feminist lens. That is important to me.

Just start. Do things that scare you. Take a class. Take up space. Use your voice. Share your particular world view. You have something to say that no one else does and that is special. Take improv. Try stand up. Push yourself to write if you’re “not a writer” (that was me several years ago and now I write short films in a hour and a half and bang out three sketches a night. You can write. Anyone can write.), hop on stage and do a sketch show if performing feels weird to you. Think about the stories you’d love to watch, roles you’d love to play, messages you’d love to share, and then make them. We live in a world where content has been democratized. If you have a phone and the internet you can make your voice heard. I teach workshops specifically on digital production to try and empower folks to make their own content. Also, if you are just starting out or like working in less of a vacuum, find a partner or a team to work with. I got lucky and married a person who is also my comedy partner. We love working together and we generally have the same taste. We make each other better.

Being one of the first women to come forward about Harvey Weinstein has been terrifying, inspiring, frustrating, empowering, and everything in between. I am an activist and an advocate for several survivors of sexual violence and I very much use my modest platform to talk about these issues ALL THE TIME. I also use my comedy to tell these stories. One of the first new things I wrote in the wake of coming forward was a sketch called “Christmas Crime”. It is about victim blaming. And even though it is feminist in nature, it was the first feminist comedy video we released that DIDN’T get ugly, misogynistic, negative comments. I was really proud of that. Going public didn’t change what I was already doing (one of our series “Feminist Fairytales” had come out a year or two earlier and had already gotten over a million views) but it did makes me realize that I wasn’t going to slow down or pull punches regarding these issues when it came to creating my art. The world needs more art from people who have been subjugated and silenced… that includes survivors, POC, those in the disables community and the LGBTQ+ family. Our voices all matter and they are wildly underrepresented. Unfortunately, coming forward also has had it’s downsides including career backlash. All of the folks I know who spoke out about their abusers have faced some form of negative career impact; blacklisting, getting dropped by reps, audition rates plummeting, losing jobs, etc. My hope is that those who truly support the work we are doing in our industry will make a huge effort to bring us in. Audition us, meet with us, mentor us, hire us. We put our necks on the line to change things for the better for everyone. We shouldn’t be punished for it. I truly believe in art as activism and I am proud to say that is what I am doing in all aspects of my creativity. I am using my art to put out important messages while still being able to entertain and bring joy. That is important. Art as activism also means putting one’s money where one’s mouth is and doing your part to elevate the voices of the underrepresented. I try to always hire women, POC, those with disabilities, those in the LGBTQ+ community, fellow survivors, etc. when I have the chance to and I also refer them on to other jobs. We have to lift each other up. We have to.